Contribute, they said. It would be fun, they said.

noproblemmy , 3 hours ago

I don’t know why this reads so skeptical:

“The team has been setting the groundwork for new components/drivers to be written in Rust but as these are developed, we’re running into some roadblocks,” he told us. “[Linux creator Linus] Torvalds doesn’t seem to care, or perhaps believes they are appropriate. Time will tell.”

Some days ago what I read was this:

Switching to a more modern topic, the introduction of the Rust language into Linux, Torvalds is disappointed that its adoption isn’t going faster. “I was expecting updates to be faster, but part of the problem is that old-time kernel developers are used to C and don’t know Rust. They’re not exactly excited about having to learn a new language that is, in some respects, very different. So there’s been some pushback on Rust.” zdnet.com/…/linus-torvalds-talks-ai-rust-adoption…

deegeese , 3 hours ago

And of course the conclusion is

If working with other open source developers is too hard, they could always fork the project.

polygon6121 , 3 hours ago

I am sorry, but these rust evangelist’s are a bit ridiculous. Rust is I great language. But saying that the Linux kernal not having a future because not everyone will adapt a new programming language is stupid. Does he not realize he is putting alot more technical burden on the remaining maintainers that need to learn a completely different language because he decided the kernel suddenly neeeds rust, thanks I guess?

anyhow2503 , 2 hours ago

C has not aged well, despite its popularity in many applications. I’m grateful for the incredible body of work that kernel developers have assembled over the decades, but there are some very useful aspects of rust that might help alleviate some of the hurdles that aspiring contributors face. This was not a push by rust evangelists, but an attempt to enable modernization efforts at least for new driver development. If it doesn’t work out, that’s fair enough but I’m grateful for the willingness - especially of Linus - to try something new.

skilltheamps , 1 hour ago

Nobody gets forced to port kernel stuff to rust. Also the rust compiler takes a lot of burden from maintainers by the safety it enforces.

The whole conflict ist not a technical one, it is entirely human. Some long-term kernel developers don’t like people turning up and replacing the code they wrote. Instead of being proud that the concepts they built get to be elevated in a superior implementation, they throw tantrum and sabotage.

TVA , 3 hours ago

From an outsiders perspective, a lot of the "politics" seemed to be that Rust devs would try to change behavior they saw as bugs and Linus would have to be like: "it doesn't matter, we don't break userspace functionality with changes we make to the kernel! [not a direct quote, but a paraphrase]"

Devs not wanting to learn Rust is something I'm not at all equipped to comment on since I don't know C or Rust (some C++, python, Powershell and a few other scripting languages though) so I can't say how difficult that transition would be, but at the very least it seems like they must not be convinced of its need.

Anyone with more knowledge able to chime in on if it seems this is a self induced problem on their end or genuinely something the other kernel devs are being difficult to work with?

corsicanguppy , 2 hours ago

“I am no visionary but if Linux doesn’t internalize this, I’m afraid some other kernel will do to it what it did to Unix.”

Linux has no owner, really, aside from Linus. How can IBM wrangle a reversal in the sale of it back to Novell who has no more devs to maintain it - because they sold it - and they put it on the shelf for 20 years until it’s dead?

I don’t get how this is like how Unix was killed; at all.